Cross border patient mobility rights in the European Union and their effect on small member states

Abstract

More than five hundred million European Union citizens have the right to obtain healthcare in a member state other than the one in which social security contributions are paid. Addressing the uncertainty that remains over how these rights may be de facto exercised, the study's first aim is the establishing of the nature and extent of the right of patients to cross-border care by reference to Internal Market and Social Security Law, which in absence of explicit EU competence, have shaped cross-border patient mobility rights as they stand today. Having establishing the rights of patients to cross-border patient mobility, the study's second aim is determining how patient rights to cross-border patient mobility impact small member states. This is done in view of determining the veracity of the claims of small member states that cross-border patient mobility impacts them more than larger member states. Addressing the fact that EU legislation on patient mobility applies to all member states equally, irrespective of size, the study assesses the impact on small member states with reference to their vulnerabilities as small states. Having identified the implications of the EU legislation on cross-border patient mobility as currently in force, the study's third aim is identifying measures that small member states can introduce to ensure that EU legislation on cross-border patient mobility has a positive impact on their national healthcare system. The study concludes that small member states stand to gain from the EU legislation on patient mobility and that rather than opposing the emerging role of the EU in healthcare, small member states should deem this an opportunity to partake in a legal environment that is more patient-centred, and which provides the necessary impetus for improvement of national healthcare systems.